Ventilating-grate.



No. 801,244. PATENTED OCT. 10, 1905. R. J. HUGHES. VENTILATING GRATE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.27,1903,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 801,244. PATENTED OCT. 10, 1905. R. J. HUGHES. VENTILATING GRATB.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.27, 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEBT 2 il l lmmill unrrnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VENTlLATlNG-GRATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 10, 1905 Application filed March 27 1903. Serial No.149,907.

To (all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RALEIGH J. HUeHns, a citizen of the United States,residing at Raleigh, in the county of ake and State of North Carolina,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ventilating-Grrates, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to heaters of that class comprising a gratearranged within a fireplace-casing to which cold air is admitted andfrom which the heated air is discharged; and my improvements consist inconstructing the parts so as to secure the greatest possible amount ofradiated heat, afi'ord extended heating-surfaces for the cold airpassing through the casing. prevent a too rapid passage of theair-currents, and generally improve the construction and efficiency ofthe heater, as fully set forth hereinafter and as illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a transverse sectionalelevation through a fireplace and chimney provided with my improvedheater. Fig. 2 is an elevation showing the front of the heater. Fig. 3is a front elevation, the ornamental coverplates, register-plates, andgrate removed. Fig. 4 is a sectional plan on the line I 4:, Fig. 3. Fig.5 is a rear elevation of the heater, the rear plate of the casingremoved.

The grate A is suitably and preferably detachably suspended in positionwithin an outer casing B, which extends to the back and sides of thegrate and is inclined forward over the top of the same, the innerportion 1 of the casing having a lower vertical portion and upperinclined portion and being preferably of cast metal, while the outersides and back are of sheet metal. The inclined top is preferably ofcast metal.

The fire-pot has preferably the usual fireclay lining 2, and the ash-pitbelow the grate communicates through a suitable covered opening with theash-flue 3 and is closed at the front by a register-plate D, having asliding or other register for regulating the draft, and the upper edgeof this plate is set away slightly from the grate. This prevents theashes which fall from the vertical portion of the grate from beingdischarged onto the hearth.

At the lower end of the chamber as, within the casing B, is an air-inletA, communicating Wvith an air-flue 5, which receives fresh air in anysuitable manner, and this inlet is provided with a damper 6, which maybe operated from a handle 7 at the front of the heater by means of a rod8. (See Fig. 4.)

It is desirable to have access to theinterior of the chamber as inerecting the heater. and I therefore provide an opening 10 in the frontside of the casing B below the grate, which opening is closed by a plateor panel 12, bolted or otherwise secured in place, so that it may beremoved when access to the interior of the casing is required, being atother times secured in place.

The casing B is arranged within the fireplace, as shown in Fig. 1, andsmoke-fines 13 extend through the inclined portion of the casing,,and'the latter has a forward outlet 14: for the escape of hot air andalso an opening or outlet 15 in the top, through which hot air can passto a pipe 16, extending upward through the chimney to a register 17 in aroom above.

The smoke-fines 13 are on opposite sides of the outlet 15,'and the upperends of these smoke-fines can be closed in whole or in part by slidingdampers 18, sliding upon the top of the casing. In order that thesedampers may be shifted from handles 19 at the front of the heater, eachdamper 18 has an opening 20, at one edge of which is a rack 21, and withthe latter engages a toothed sector 22 upon a rod 23, having a crankconnected by a rod 24 with the handle 19, by pulling or pushing uponwhich the rod and sector may be turned so as to shift the damper.

. The outlet 14 is provided with a registerplate 44, carrying any formof register, which may be opened and closed and preferably hinged sothat it may be swung to uncoverthe opening 14: and permit a dish orother receptacle 25 to be placed upon or removed from a shelf or othersuitable support 26, the said receptacle being supplied with water, theevaporation of which will moisten the air passing from the chamber 00.

A damper 27 controls the flow of hot air to the pipe 16 and may beturned bya handle or knob 28 on the damper-rod, and by manipu latingthis knob 28 and the register of the register-plate 44 the hot air maybe controlled in its flow to the lower or upper rooms.

In order to secure the full efficiency of the heater, it is necessarythat the air passing upward from the inlet 4: to the outlets at the topof the casing should meet extended heatingsurfaces and should beprevented from flowing too rapidly that is, it should be main tained incontact with these heating-surfaces until thoroughly heated. To securethese results, lform at the back of the front plate of the casing aseries of deflector-plates 30,which, as shown, are separated from eachother or arranged in separated rows one above the other and are curvedin reverse directions, a downwardly curved plate being arranged. abovethe space between the edges of two adjacent upwardly-curved plates andan upwardly-curved plate arranged above and between the edges of twodownwardly-curved plates, as best shown in Fig. 5. These series ofplates not only afford extended heating-surfaces, but by curving some ofthe plates down and arranging them in positions above the passagesthrough which the air-currents must flow upward I deflect these currentsslightly downward, which tends to retain them for such a length oftimein contact with the plates without interfering with the proper freedomof their upward flow that by the time the air reaches the upper portionof the casing it will be raised to a high temperature, which will beincreased as it passes around the flues 13 in flowing to the forwardoutlet let, while that portion of the air which passes upward throughthe pipe 16 will be heated by the heat imparted to the said pipe fromthe heated gases flowing upward through the chimney.

To prevent the air from flowing too directly to the pipe 16 and retainitin contact with the heated surfaces for a greater length of time, Iextend a plate 31, bent upward at the edges or sides, below the outlet15 and from the back of the casing forward, so that the air will flowfirst forward and then back toward the opening 15.

With the parts above described I combine any suitably -ornamented coverplates 85,

bolted or otherwise secured to the front of the casing.

Without limiting myself to the precise construction and arrangement ofparts shown, I claim as my invention 1. The combination of a grate, anair-heating casing at the rear and above the same, a hotair flueextending centrally from the top of the casing, a pair of smoke-fluesextending through the casing on both sides of the airflue, and anindependent sliding smokedamper for each pair of smoke-fines, eachdamper having a central opening provided with a rack at one edge, asector with teeth engaging each rack, a rod having a crank connected toeach sector, and rods connected to the cranks and ext-ending through thecasing and beyond the front thereof, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with a grate, of an airheating casing at the rear andabove the grate having a front wall partly vertical and partly inclined,and a plurality of horizontally-arranged series of separated deflectorplates extending rearward from said front wall, the plates in adjacentseries being curved in reverse directions and the plates in each seriesalternating with the plates in the adjacent series, whereby the currentsof air passing through the openings in certain series of thedeflector-plates impinge centrally upon the concave under surfaces ofthe deflector-plates in the series next above, substantially as setforth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of tWo subscribing witnesses.

RALEIGH J. HUGHES.

Witnesses:

W. (J. DOUGLASS, R. N. SIMoNs.

